Operations Manager at The Payments Association of South Africa (PASA)

Overall job purpose

• The Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) payment system environments are responsible for the design, implementation, maintenance, and support services for the National Payment System (NPS) of South Africa, PASA members and the greater payments industry, also contributing to the safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of the global financial system.
• The key areas of responsibility entail managing the end-to-end projects, governance functions and administration services of the various payment systems that make up the National Payment System of South Africa through various constituted PASA Structures and payment industry forums.
• PASA payment system environments also provide subject matter expertise, services, and support to other PASA functions and areas namely: Research and Strategy, Legal, Communication and Change Management, Risk and Fraud, Member Registration, Project Management and Compliance.

Key stakeholder management and interaction

• Internal: PASA Structures, PASA Executives and PASA Employees.
• External: Payment Clearing House Participant Groups (PCH PGs), South African Reserve Bank (SARB), Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), PASA Members, Payment System Operators (PSOs) and other regulatory bodies as well as forums with an interest in the Payments Industry of South Africa.

Responsibilities:

• To manage and lead the end-to-end administration and operational processes and services.
• Support the PASA payment systems and operations environments to deliver on the management and administration services mandated to PASA
• Be accountable for the administration standards and services delivery thereof across the payment systems environments of PASA.
• Support PASA internal processes and deliverables aligned to the PASA Strategy
• Ensure the PASA Governance Framework is adhered to
• Custodianship of the PASA Member Portal that provides the primary platform for engagement and services provided to PASA Members.
• Custodianship of the change management processes for PASA member functions and services
• Custodianship of the end-to-end operational processes and optimisation thereof for efficiency and effectiveness of services rendered by PASA
• Manage the administrative standards for services relating to the PASA Structures, including meetings, workshops, and other stakeholder engagement forums
• Manage the delivery of the PASA document management standards and processes for the payment’s environments
• Ensure compliance to all relevant policies and governance for the administrative and operational functions of the PASA payment systems environment
• Ensure delivery according to set standards, service level agreements and governance requirements.
• Coordinate and manage alignment of operational processes and administration functions across the payment systems environment.
• Support the day-to-day operational processes and escalations with effective solutions.
• Develop and deliver management information (MIS) required to effectively monitor and manage the services of the payment system environments.
• Ensure effective stakeholder management, internally and externally.
• Conduct research on process standards, efficiency, and effectiveness for continuous improvement of the payment system environments and administration functions.

Key attributes
Education and experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Management or Commerce.
• 4-6 years’ experience in payment systems (as defined by the NPS of SA) operations environment.
• 4-6 years’ experience in Operations Management.
• 4-6 years’ experience in Project Management (advantageous).

Knowledge:

• Advanced Microsoft 365 suite of products (Visio, MS Project, Excel, PowerPoint, Word)
• Process Management (define, develop, execute, and optimise)
• Processes Mapping (including relevant tools)
• Project Management (including relevant tools)
• Business analysis
• Research methodologies
• Knowledge of the NPS of South Africa
• Knowledge of regulatory, legislative and governance landscape in the payments industry of South Africa.

Skills:

• Team Leadership and orientation with ability to motivate others towards performance.
• Strong stakeholder management
• Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Detail-oriented
• Ability to integrate strategy and operational components into cohesive execution.
• Personal organisation and time management
• Good communications skills (verbal and written)
• Good interpersonal and consultative skills
• Strong facilitation & presentation skills
• Ability to work independently.
• Ability to work under pressure and on multiple priorities as the same time